Sweden seizes Pirate Bay web domains

A Stockholm court on Tuesday seized the Swedish web domains of file-sharing site The Pirate Bay over repeated copyright violations in a bid to end the site's activities.

This was the first time a Swedish prosecutor had requested that an internet address be taken off the web permanently, according to the online edition of Swedish paper of reference Dagens Nyheter.

However, it was unclear what effect the Swedish court's decision would have. Several hours after the ruling, users typing the addresses piratebay.se and thepiratebay.se were simply redirected to other Pirate Bay sites.

"For criminal activities there's always a way to get around the rules. Sweden has done what it can to show that it doesn't accept this type of activity," Sara Lindback, a lawyer at the anti-piracy Rights Alliance, told news agency TT.

Founded in 2003, The Pirate Bay allows users to dodge copyright fees and share music, film and other files using bit torrent technology, or peer-to-peer links offered on the site.

The two domains belonged to a Thai woman, Supadavee Trakunroek, 25, whom the Stockholm district court identified as the business partner of one of the Pirate Bay's founders, 37-year-old Fredrik Neij.

Neij had criticised the trial as an attack on freedom of expression.

Sweden has repeatedly tried to put an end to The Pirate Bay's activities, to no avail.

Swedish courts have already handed down prison sentences and heavy fines to its founders Carl Lundstroem, Fredrik Neij, Gottfrid Svartholm Warg and Peter Sunde.

Servers hosting the site were seized in a Stockholm suburb in early December, but the site reappeared in late January.

© 2015 AFP